1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrical connector, and in particular to an improved electrical connector having functions not only as a joint connector which connects a main wire connected to a connector member of the connector to other wires also connected to the same connector member in parallel for constituting a branch circuit, but also as an intermediate connector which connects a plurality of wires connected to one connector member of the connector to a plurality of wires connected to the other connector member in series.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional joint connector is disclosed for example in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 61-277180, which is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
The known joint connector 1 comprises a connecting housing 3 and a male connector member 5 to be fitted into the connecting housing 3. The connecting housing 3 has a base portion 3a and a cylindrical hood portion 3b extending from the base portion 3a so as to define a hollow space 3c and a front opening 3d. In the base portion 3a of the connecting housing 3, there are embedded a plurality of flat male terminals 7 in such a manner that they are protruded into the hollow space 3c. These male terminals 7 are divided into some joint terminals 7a in which some male terminals are joined together at base parts thereof so as to establish electrical connection among them. Namely, as shown in FIG. 1, there are some joint terminals 7a in the connecting housing 3, each of which has two or three male terminals, respectively.
The male connector member 5 includes a plurality of female terminals (not shown) to which a plurality of wires 9 are connected, respectively. The female terminals are arranged so as to receive the male terminals 7 of the connecting housing 3 therein when the male connector member 5 is inserted into the hollow space 3c from the front opening 3d and then fitted to the connecting housing 3. When the connector member 5 is properly fitted to the connecting housing 3, some of the female terminals attached to the wires 9 will be electrically connected with each other through the joint terminal having the male terminals connected to the female terminals. This means that one of these wires 9, which is designated as a main wire, can be branched to the remaining wires 9 at the joint connector 1 by means of the joint terminal 7a. In this case, the number of the wires to be branched at the joint connector 1 depends on the number of the male terminals 7 which constitute the joint terminal 7a. Namely, as shown in FIG. 1, if the joint terminal 7a has three male terminals, two wires can be branched from the main wire at the joint connector 1. The joint connector 1 can provide a reliable branch circuit, so that it is commonly used in wiring in an automobile or the like.
On the other hand, a conventional intermediate connector generally comprises a female connector member including a plurality of terminals connected to wires and a male connector member including a plurality of terminals connected to wires. The male connector member is constituted so as to be fittable into the female connector member, and to establish electrical connection between the wires in series when the terminals of the connector members are connected together.
In these conventional joint and intermediate connectors, each of the connectors has only one function as a joint connector or an intermediate connector, respectively. Therefore, the conventional joint connector can not be used as an intermediate connector and the conventional intermediate connector can not be used as a joint connector. As a result, in the recent complicated wiring for example wiring harness for use in an automobile, if it becomes necessary to constitute a branch circuit at the junction points of the intermediate connector, a joint connector having the structure as described above has to be additionally prepared. On the other hand, if it becomes necessary to connect wires connected to the male connector member of the conventional joint connector to other wires in series, an additional intermediate connector has to be prepared. This means that the number of connectors used in the wiring has to be increased, thus leading to cost-up in manufacturing thereof.
Further, as stated in the above the number of the branch wires produced by the conventional joint connector depends on the number of the male terminals of the joint terminal which has already embedded in the base portion 3a of the connecting housing 3. Therefore, the degree of freedom for connecting arbitrary wires for a branch circuit is restricted by the number and arrangement of the terminals of the joint terminal which has already been embedded in the base portion 3a. In order to overcome the problem, it may be possible to prepare a number of connecting housings each having different joint terminals. However, this will result in increasing the manufacturing cost thereof.